Five times Mike helped Peter cook
by Lisa Boon
Summary: Peter can't cook. Mike can. The five times Mike helped Peter cook.
1. Chapter 1

**(This story idea came from the awesome Murdock you!  
**

 **I hope you enjoy the story.**

 **I don't own** _ **The Monkees.**_

 **Not beated all spelling mistakes are mine and mine alone.)**

Mike woke up to something burning. Leaping out of bed he tore open the bedroom door and hurried down stairs to see what was going on. There was Peter sighing and scraping the remands of something into the garbage.

"What's burning?" He asked as Peter set the frying pan back on the stove and turned away with disgust.

"Pancakes." Peter admitted.

"Oh, where are Micky and Davy?" Mike asked as he went over to the stove and took the frying pan off and started running water in the sink to wash it.

"Out on the beach. Micky wanted to go running before breakfast." Peter answered as he sat down at the table.

"Ahh, I see." Mike said and set the pan back on the stove and turned the burner on and grabbed the coffee pot and poured some into a mug. He added sugar and grabbed a spoon to stir it around with and sat down next to Peter at the table.

"Aren't you going to watch it?" Peter asked worriedly looking at the frying pan.

"No, not yet at least, it needs to get hot." Mike said.

"It was hot though." Peter answered as Mike took a sip of coffee.

"Well, yes it was," Mike agreed "But it was too hot Peter, that's why you burned them."

"Oh." Peter said looking down.

"Hey, it's not the worst mistake you can make while cooking." Mike said smiling and got up "Come here…I want to show you how to tell if the pan is hot enough." Peter followed Mike over to the sink as Mike ran his hand under the cold water and flicked his fingers onto the pan. The water sizzled and evaporated.

"See how the water danced a little on the pan?" Mike asked Peter. Peter nodded showing that he had saw that.

"That's how you know it's hot enough." Mike said "Where is the bowl of batter?" Peter grabbed the bowl and handed it to Mike who stirred it up and put a dollop of batter onto the skillet.

"Now," Mike said setting the bowl down onto the counter next to the stove "We wait." After a few minutes Mike grabbed the pancake turner and called Peter back over to his side.

"Okay Pete," He said "See all the little bubbles in the batter?"

"Yeah." Peter said.

"Alright, that's generally how you can tell if a pancake is ready to be flipped." Mike said as he slid the spatula and flipped it over. It was a light golden brown colour. Mike grinned.

"Want to grab a plate?" He asked and Peter hurried to get what Mike had asked. A few more minutes and Mike took the pancake and flipped it onto the plate and put more batter on.

"Your turn Pete." He said handing over the spatula.

"I'll burn it Mike." Peter said backing up "You saw what I did with the other pancake."

"Peter, I'll be right here, if you have questions." Mike said going over and sitting down at the table and drinking his coffee.

"Okay." Peter said hesitantly as he stood at the stove. Mike smiled and when Micky and Davy came in from their walk with Peter turning over the last pancake onto the plate Micky's eyes grew wide.

"Peter," He exclaimed "You're cooking!" Peter smiled as he brought the plate over to the table.

"Yeah, I guess I am." He said "Mike taught me how to make pancakes." Peter grinned.

"Pancakes!" Davy whooped and ran over leaving a trail of sand going from the bandstand to the table.

"Davy, please go and wash up." Mike sighed as he got up to grab plates, cups and sliver ware. Davy and Micky both hurried over to the bathroom and after fighting a little bit to see who was going to wash up first they returned to the table ready to eat.

"Hey, this isn't half bad Peter." Davy said around a mouthful of griddle cake.

"Yeah, now you can make pancakes and cereal." Micky joked.

"Micky, be nice." Mike said as he washed down his pancake with some milk.

"Really Pete, these are good." Micky complimented the blond as he took another two cakes.

"Thanks Mick." Peter answered bowing his head at the praise slightly embarrassed. Micky just smiled and started eating again. Soon after the pancakes where gone Mike stood up and drained the last of his coffee and put it by the sink.

"Well I think that it is only fair that since Peter and I cooked Davy and Micky, you guys do the washing. Come on Peter let's go for a walk down to the beach." And with that he walked out the door Peter following behind smiling slightly.


	2. Beef Stew

**(Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story so far. I'm glad you like it.**

 **Thank you also to Murdock Calavicci, Bartholomew-Kazpian, and Future Skulljockey for your reviews. I'm so glad you guys like this story.**

 **I don't own** _ **The Monkees**_ **or any TV show or song mentioned in this story.**

 **Also, this is what I call a recipe chapter. That means that there is a recipe at the end. This one is my recipe for Beef Stew.**

 **I hope you like the chapter and if you make the beef stew I hope you like it as well.)**

Peter stirred the meat in the Dutch oven as Mike cut up the vegetables.

"This might be a dumb question but-" Peter started to say but Mike interrupted him.

"Has anyone ever told you this no such thing as a dumb question?"

"Well yeah, still doesn't stop people for saying 'dumb question' if they think it's a dumb question." Peter answered a slight smile on his lips as he turned to look at Mike. Mike sighed.

"What's your question Pete?" He asked.

"Why are we browning the meat?" Peter asked "Won't it cook in the water?"

"Well, yes, but if we brown the meat beforehand we get all this good colouring on it and all the brown bits will give it a good flavor." Mike explained "Want to transfer that to a plate and do the next batch?" Peter did as Mike asked and continued stirring.

"Mike?" Micky asked from the bandstand where he was playing halfheartedly on his snare drum looking at the Texan "Where did we get the money for this, beef stew is kind of expansive to make isn't it?" Mike went over to the fridge and grabbed the carrots and potatoes out and didn't answer right away.

"Not really." He finally said as he started scrubbing the vegetables.

But-" Davy piped up from the couch.

"Davy, look, the way I see it we spend a little extra on the meat and make a double batch and freeze some of it for later we're not really wasting any money and we'll have a meal for when we really need it." Mike said as he began peeling the potatoes.

"Yeah, I guess I see your point." Davy sighed and picked up the book he was reading.

"The meat's all browned now what do we do?" Peter asked looking at Mike.

"We add in the onions." Mike answered as he looked into the pot "but first I think we should add in a little more oil." He grabbed the oil and added in a few tablespoons and then dumped the bowl of chopped onions into the pot.

"Stir that around for a few minutes Pete." He said as he went back to prepping the potatoes. A few minutes later Mike came over and added some flour to the pot and told Peter to keep stirring. While Peter did that Mike went to the cupboard and pulled out a can of beef broth and poured it into a cup.

"Why did you add flour?" Peter asked as Mike went back over to the stove.

"It helps thicken the stew," Mike said "there's a fancy name for it but I don't know what it's called." He slowly added the beef broth to the Dutch oven as Peter continued to stir. After a few more minutes Peter noticed that it was starting to get thick.

"Mike, is that supposed to happen?" He asked worriedly. Mike peeked into the pot.

"Yep, now we add in the rest of the beef broth, and the beef." Mike said as he added the stuff.

"Now what?" Peter asked.

"We let it simmer for a bit." Mike answered as he put a lid on the pot and turned the heat down.

"How long's a bit?" Micky asked.

"I'd say an hour or so." Mike answered as he grabbed his guitar and started playing a random tune. It had started to rain and the tune Mike was playing slowly morphed into Bob Dylan's' ' _A hard rain's gonna fall'_ Micky looked at Mike and let out a chuckle.

"What?" Mike asked frowning slightly.

"Nothing." Micky said getting up and cracking his fingers and moved from the bandstand to the couch and turned on the TV.

"Anything good on?" Davy asked putting his book aside and watching the TV as well.

"I don't know, let's see." Micky said as he got up to change the channel. Soon they found a repeat of _Gilligan's Island_ and settled down to watch it. Soon after _I dream of Jeannie_ ended Mike got up from the chair he was sitting in and tapping Peter on the shoulder he made his way into the kitchen.

"Ok," Mike said as he removed the lid from the stew "Now we're going to add the vegetables."

"Why didn't we add them at the beginning?" Peter asked as he watched Mike drain the water off the potatoes.

"Because if we did that then they would be mush." Mike answered.

"Oh."

"Here." Mike handed the celery to Peter and Peter added it in that was followed by the carrots and the drained potatoes.

"Now we let it simmer again for a while." Mike said as he replaced the lid and turned the heat up a little bit. He wondered back over to the couch and sat down just as the opening credits for the news came on. The rain softly tapping on the window, the smell of stew wafted through the house instead of something burning, you could almost call the seen cozy.

 **OoO**

 **Beef Stew**

Serves: 12

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Ingredients:

⦁ 3 lbs boneless chuck roast, cut into 2-inch pieces

⦁ 3 tbsp vegetable oil

⦁ 2 tsp salt

⦁ 1 tbsp freshly ground pepper

⦁ 2 yellow onions, cut into 1-inch chunks

⦁ 1/4 cup flour

⦁ 3 cloves garlic, minced

⦁ 1 cup red wine or beef broth

⦁ 3 cups beef broth

⦁ 1/2 tsp dried rosemary

⦁ 1 bay leaf

⦁ 1/2 tsp dried thyme

⦁ 4 carrots, peeled, cut into 1-inch slices

⦁ 2 stalks celery, cut into 1-inch slices

⦁ 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut in eighths

⦁ fresh parsley to garnish (optional)

Preparation:

On medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil to a large heavy pot (one that has a tight fitting lid).

When it begins to smoke slightly, add the beef and brown very well. Do in batches if necessary. Add the salt and pepper as the beef browns.

Once browned, remove the beef with a slotted spoon set aside.

Add the onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, until softened.

Reduce heat to medium-low, and add the flour and cook for 2 minutes stirring often.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Add wine or beef broth and deglaze the pan, scraping any brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. The flour will start to thicken the wine as it comes to a simmer.

Simmer wine for 5 minutes, and then add the broth, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, and the beef.

Bring back to a gentle simmer, cover and cook on very low for about 1 hour.

Add potatoes, carrots, and celery, and simmer covered for another 30 minutes or until the meat and vegetables are tender. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes before serving. Garnish with the fresh parsley if desired.


	3. Quiche

**(Chapter 3!**

 **Thank you so much to Murdock Calavicci, Bartholomew-Kazpian, and B Ghoul for your wonderful reviews.**

 **I don't own The Monkees TV show, if I did, I would've let them do what they wanted when they asked and maybe we would've had a third season of The Monkees.**

 **Anyway, all spelling mistakes are mine and mine alone.**

 **I hope you like this chapter.)**

Peter looked at the egg cheese mess that was in the mixing bowl.

"I don't know about this Mike." He said worriedly looking at the Texan. Mike sighed.

"Come on Peter, you where the one who wanted to make this thing right?" Mike asked looking at his friend.

"Well, yeah, that's because it sounded good, but now I'm not too sure." Peter bit his lip.

"If it's any help, I've never made one ether." Mike smiled as he grabbed the Bisquick box.

"What is quiche anyway?" Davy asked from the kitchen table where he and Micky where playing a card game with their dummy Mr. Schneider.

"Some kind of French egg bake I think." Mike said looking at the recipe Mrs. Purdy gave them.

"Alright, so we mix the eggs and milk together." Mike said as Peter cracked the last egg into the bowl and Mike poured in the milk "Here start mixing it." He handed Peter a whisk then went back to the index card and grabbed a measuring cup he scooped in some of the Bisquick and then added it to the eggs and milk followed by some mushrooms.

"Are we adding anything else?" Micky asked stretching as he got up to watch Mike and Peter.

"I don't know, what else is in the fridge?" Mike asked adding some butter to the batter.

"We have some olives, green peppers, and some sausage." Micky answered grabbing the mentioned items.

"Is the sausage good?" Mike asked "I can't even remember the last time we had sausage." Micky opened the container and smelt it.

"It smells good." He said then made to grab a piece.

"Micky I swear, if you eat a piece of that-" Mie started to say but Micky already plopped it into his mouth and started chewing it.

"Tastes fine." Micky announced as he dumped the meat into the egg mix. Mike sighed.

"Ok, fine, but if we get food poisoning because of you-" Mike let the empty threat hang in the air as he grabbed a pie plate and Peter dumped the batter into it then slid the quiche into the oven to bake. Half an hour later Mike took the egg bake out of the oven to cool as Davy set the table.

"That looks good." Micky said licking his lips.

"Well, let's just hope it tastes good too." Mike said as he grabbed the orange juice form the fridge and Peter brought over the quiche. Micky cut into it and slid pieces onto plates and for a few moments there was quiet chewing only to be broken by a clinking glass or a fork hitting the plate. Finally though Mike turned to Peter and smiled.

"Peter," He said a glint in his eyes "I think you can now add quiche to your recipe book." Peter smiled and nodded. Yes this one was definitely going into his recipe book…not that Mike knew he was making a recipe book.

"Yeah, even the sausage is good." Micky pipped up.

"We'll have to wait a day or so to determine that Mick." Davy answered before Mike could "For all you know you could of poisoned us all."

"Well, if I did it would have been by accident." Micky shot back as he gently shoved the Brit.

"So, are you saying that you did give us food poisoning?" Mike asked a smile tugging on his lips.

"What, no!" Micky yelped looking at Peter for help.

"Don't look at me Micky." Peter laughed as Micky grumbled something under his breath and took another bit of quiche making sure all three of his friends could see the half chewed up egg.


	4. Jell-O Salad (Recipe)

**(I'm back! Sorry I haven't been updating for a while I got really busy.**

 **I was thinking….what other recipe could Peter and Mike make then it hit me, no story about food set in the sixties would be complete without a chapter about a Jell-O salad.**

 **Thank you so much to Murdock Calavicci, Bartholomew-Kazpian and Marisa star for your reviews on the last chapter. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it.**

 **I don't own The Monkees.**

 **Unbetaed so all spelling mistakes are mine and mine alone.)**

"Alright let's see if we can do this." Mike said licking his lips. Peter looked at his friend with worry in his brown eyes.

"Is this another recipe you've never made?" He asked. Mike nodded and looked at the ingredients that they had gotten at the store as Peter looked over the recipe.

"Maybe this is too hard for us to do?" He said worriedly "Maybe we should make French toast?" Mike gave Peter a smile.

"No, let's see if we can do it Peter, I think we can." The Texan announced adjusting his hat "What's the first thing we do?" Peter read through the cookbook that they had lying around for a while. No one knew where they had gotten it from.

"We dissolve the raspberry Jell-O into the hot water." Peter read off.

"How much hot water?" Mike asked grabbing the tea kettle off the stove.

"What are you guys making now?" Davy asked as he fiddled around with the Jell-O package.

"I don't know some kind of Jell-O salad." Mike answered as he looked around for a pot holder. Davy grabbed one that was hiding behind the cookbook and handed it to his friend.

"Thanks Davy." Mike said as he took the pot holder from the shorter man and grabbed the tea kettle of hot water.

"It doesn't say." Peter said "I think you follow the directions on the Jell-O package." Mike nodded and then started looking around for a measuring cup. Davy found it sitting next to the sink, quickly washed it out and handed it to Mike.

"Thanks again Davy." Mike said as he poured hot water into the cup and then as he made to dump the rest of the water into the sink Davy poured the hot water over the powder in the bowl.

"What are you three doing?" Micky asked as he came in from where he was working on the car.

"Making a Jell-O-salad." Mike said grabbing a spoon and sticking it into the red mixture to stir.

"Can I stir?" Micky asked making his way into the kitchen.

"Go ahead, just wash your hands before you do." Mike said and Micky took off into the bathroom to do as Mike asked.

"I'm going to go read a book." Davy said as he walked out of the kitchen "I think it's getting too crowded." By the time he had sat down with the book he was reading Micky was back with grease free hands and was stirring the Jell-O mix.

"Okay, the stuff is dissolved…now what?" Micky asked dipping his finger into the mix and taking a taste.

"Micky, must you do that?" Mike asked rolling his eyes.

"I want to see if it will taste good." Micky said going to wash his hands again.

"Add in the cold water and put in fridge until partially set." Peter said his fingers following the words in the cookbook.

"How much cold water?" Micky asked turning the water onto cold and grabbing the measuring cup.

"A cup." Mike said as he hovered over the cookbook with Peter. Micky got the water and poured it in and let Peter stir it.

"Okay." Mike said after Peter got done incorporating the cold water into the mix. He took it and slipped it into the fridge then turned around to face his friends. "We have to wait a few hours for it to set before we add in the raspberries." He said as he went to wash the spoon off "while that is setting let's make the next layer."

"Mike, the recipe calls for cherries though." Peter said.

"Yeah, I accidently grabbed raspberries instead…I'm sure it will taste fine." Mike said turning around drying off the spoon.

"There's another layer?" Micky asked.

"Yeah," Peter smiled "A red layer and a green layer…like Christmas!"

"Okay then let's get to work." Micky said. A few minutes later Micky was making a face as Mike added in some cream cheese and mayonnaise.

"Cream cheese I can understand kind of but mayonnaise in Jell-O." Micky asked wrinkling his nose.

"It's what the recipe says to do….hey if we don't like it we can give it to Mr. Babbitt or someone else alright?" Mike said as he turned on the electric beaters and mix it around.

"Okay, I just hope it turns out good." Micky said still doubtful. Mike didn't answer if he was honest he was starting to doubt the recipe too but he added in the rest of the ingredients and mixed it up and put it into the fridge to set as well.

"Now what?" Peter asked.

"We wait." Both Mike and Micky answered the bass player. While they waited Mike did up the dirty dishes and Micky swept the floor while Peter and Davy picked up in the living room. An hour later Mike went to the fridge and deemed both Jell-O's set enough so Davy, Peter and Micky all crowded into the kitchen to see what was going to happen next. Mike went over and grabbed the raspberries and added them to the red Jell-O.

"Do we fold them in or what?" He asked and Davy consulted the cookbook.

"It doesn't say, but I would….I don't think we'd want a clump of raspberries in the Jell-O."

"Good point." Mike said as he folded in the raspberries.

"Pour into mold." Micky read out then looked at Mike "We don't have a mold." He said.

"True, but we have a bowl….we can use that." Mike said as he poured the partly set Jell-O into the bowl.

"Let's hope this works." Davy said.

"You and me both." Mike muttered as he turned to grab the heavy cream from the fridge.

"What are you using the cream for?" Micky asked "And another thing…..where did you get the money for this?" Mike poured the cream into yet another bowl and grabbed the electric mixer.

"Why do you always ask where I get the money for stuff?" Mike asked as he turned on the beaters and started whipping the heavy cream.

"Maybe because we don't have that much money to begin with?" Micky answered as the cream started to get thicker.

"I have my ways." Was all Mike said. Finally Mike decided that the cream was whipped enough and added it to the green Jell-O.

"You have to put the green one over the red one." Micky said looking at the cookbook again. Mike nodded and handed the bowl to Peter who started dolloping it onto the red Jell-O and then Micky smoothened it out and put it back into the fridge.

That night Mike took the salad out of the fridge and unmolded it from the bowl all four of them held their breath as he flipped it onto a plate and shook the bowl. There was a gently squishing sound as the Jell-O came down from the bowl and then carefully Mike lifted the bowl up. There on the plate stood a red and green Jell-O salad. Mike looked at Peter who grinned.

"Anyone want to Jell-O?" Peter asked as Micky made to get some plates.

"I don't know you two….mayonnaise should not be mixed with fruit and marshmallows." He said as he came back with the plates. Mike sliced into it and put some on to each plate. Micky took a bite and chewed it thoughtfully.

"Well?" Peter asked as Micky swallowed it.

"I didn't think that mayonnaise and Jell-O went together, but this is pretty good." Micky said as he took another forkful and plopped it into his mouth licking some of the salad from the corner of his mouth grinning.

Cherry Mallow Salad

 **(Yes I now in the story its raspberries, I like getting creative with recipes so….no other excuse than that.)**

RED LAYER: Dissolve 1 package raspberry Jell-O in 1 cup boiling water. Add 1 cup cold water, chill until partially set. Add one 1 pound can pitted cherries, drained and halved. Pour into mold. Chill until almost firm.

FLUFFY GREEN LAYER: Drain one 1 pound can crushed pineapple, reserving syrup (1 cup). To syrup add one package lime Jell-O, heat and stir until dissolved. Add 3 ounces cream cheese, softened, and 1/2 cup mayonnaise, beat until smooth with electric or rotary beater. Stir in 1/2 cup cold water, reserved pineapple, and 1/2 cup tiny marshmallows, chill until partially set. Whip 1/2 cup heavy cream, fold into lime mixture, spread on red layer. Chill.


End file.
